North Anderson Baptist Church
Revelation 18:1-3 NIV
What do we see in these verses? Again, an angel is involved in a declaration, and this time it is the fall of the evil city of Babylon. Remember that chapter 17 let us in on the fact that the Babylon John is talking about is most likely Rome! It had, in John’s day, become the center of all the atheistic activities regarding God Almighty and yet the center of all the adulterous ways of evil even the worship of the antichrist. Even the demons resided there to influence all it’s rich and famous, as well as poor residents to partake of the “maddening wine of her adulteries.”
It was a wicked city and God had had enough and therefore the declaration from heaven itself. (Revelation 14:8)
Revelation 18:4-8 NIV
Evidently there were still followers of Christ living in the Babylon of evil. How they were there or why they would stay there is beyond me. But whatever the reason, God calls, using this warning of the angel, for them to escape the coming judgment that will fall on the wicked place of Babylon.
See how sinful and wicked they are, such that their sins are piled up to heaven. There will be payback for the wickedness and the sinfulness of those who have rebelled against God and harmed His children. Their is such pride that goes with all she has done and those who have followed the influence of satan that has guided the world and its people to ignore the love and grace of God, how great their judgment will be. Because of that God has said she will be consumed with fire and that the Almighty God will be the judge of her.
Revelation 18:9-20 NIV
In these verses the lament of the loss of this wicked and evil city comes from those who have gained profit from the wickedness of the city. The first lament is from the kings of the earth and they see her burning and they think selfishly because they will no longer have the opportunity to indulge in the adulteries any longer. They are quoted to say, “Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!” They will lose some of their power and a great deal of pleasure in the destruction of the city of Babylon.
The second woe comes from the merchants who do business in the city and with the wicked of the world. They are not in any way sad for those of the city just that they will no longer profit by their business. John even listed a great deal of the merchandise the merchants deal in. Notice though verse 13b, “and human beings sold as slaves.” We know Rome dealt in slavery and at some time in their history there were over 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire. 10,000 human beings were sold in the slave markets daily. Will there be human slavery again during the Tribulation? Why not, evil is evil and there would be nothing stopping them and probably they are the ones that the first angel is talking about when he calls out to escape the judgment of God. There are other kinds of slaves too. Slaves to work, money , pleasure and pride and hatred etc… God will judge them all.
The third woe comes from the sea captains. They are representative of all who are greedy and take advantage of all that they can to become filthy rich off the wickedness of man. Their woe really was about themselves and their loss of riches.
Verse 20 is a great verse which declares rejoicing in heaven about the destruction of the evil city. The rejoicing comes for the many years and many souls who have be persecuted, ruined, tormented and killed by the evil forces under the disguise of the great Babylon. They will finally get what they deserve. Judgment will come in the manner that the souls mentioned, saints, apostles and prophets were judged by them.
Revelation 18:21-24 NIV
An angel again appears and this time he picks up a boulder, one that was not just large but BIG and packed a wallop for he threw it into the sea and brought destruction to Babylon. The violence that comes against the city is so great that it shall never be seen again. No music, instruments, workman, business, light to see by or voices again of those who were happy will be found in that city again. Even though there were some good things in and of themselves in that city, all of it would be destroyed. A spell had been cast on the city with evil intent and they were dead set to kill all those who knew the Lord and would share Him with others. Their blood was found in the city and because of the influence of the antichrist there will be no mercy. All is lost in this evil and wicked city of Babylon.
What do we learn?
During this time of the tribulation there will be great wickedness prevailing in the city of Babylon and all over the world under his leadership. God will not allow sin to go unpunished. Particularly the sin of humiliation and degrading the people of God and of others who were in the way of the antichrist or Babylon. No one would miss the punishment that is set for this demon influenced world. We know the judgment will be violent in nature which would only be the kind of revenge God would seek to express.
For those of us who are reading this book, maybe some for the first time, we see God is Great and He is powerful as well as just in all that He does. He desires for us to live by love and to follow the example of His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Judgment is coming for all who rebel and dishonor God. My prayer for you today is that you will look deep into your heart and say:
“I am fine with the Lord Jesus, my Savior and Lord.”
Or say,
2) “I need to get right with God because I know I have sinned and not lived the Christian life like I said I would.”
Or, you might say,
3) “I need Jesus as my Savior and Lord and I want right now to bow my heart and my life to Him as my King and Lord. I want to be saved and redeemed from my sins. So, I call on You, God to forgive me of my sin and I accept the death of Jesus on the Cross for my sin. I want to follow you in my life and be obedient to you as my Lord.”
Amen!
What Did We Learn?
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